The House of Augustenburg
The House of Augustenburg or the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg is a branch of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg of the House of Oldenburg. The line descended from Alexander, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg. Like all the secondary lines from the Sonderburg branch, the heads of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg were first known as Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein and Dukes of Sonderburg. The family took its name from its ancestral home, Augustenborg Palace, in Augustenborg, Denmark. History The branch originated from Ernest Gunther, a member of the ducal House of Schleswig-Holstein (its branch of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg) and a cadet of the royal house of Denmark, the third son of Alexander, Duke of Sonderburg|Alexander (1573–1627), 2nd Duke of Sonderborg, thus a grandson of John II, Duke of Sonderburg (1545–1622), the 1st duke, who was a son of King Christian III of Denmark. Ernest Gunther had a castle built in the years after 1651, which received the name Augustenborg in honor of his wife, Auguste, herself also from a branch of Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein, daughter of Philip (1584–1663), Duke of Glucksburg. As that castle became the chief seat of their line, the line eventually used the name Augustenborg as its branch name. As they were agnates of the ducal house, the title of Duke belonged to everyone of them (as is the Germanic custom). The Dukes of Augustenborg were not sovereign rulers — they held their lands in fief to the sovereign Dukes of Schleswig and Holstein - the Kings of Denmark. Later, a Danish king made the head of that line specifically Duke of Augustenborg. In the late 18th century, since 1764, the branch of Slesvig-Holsten-Sønderborg-Augustenborg was genealogically the next senior immediately after the main line of Danish kings, and had much Danish nobility blood in their veins. King Frederick VI of Denmark, or rather his chief adviser Andreas Peter Bernstorff, made his only sister Louise Auguste of Denmark to marry the then Frederik Christian II, Duke of Augustenborg. In 1764 Sønderborg castle, the seat of that elder Schleswig-Holstein branch, passed upon its extinction into the hands of the Duke of Augustenborg, but against expectations it did not became a residence (they remained at Augustenborg). Instead it was rented out as a warehouse. The penultimate Duke of Augustenborg, also named Ernst Günther, allowed Sønderborg County Museum to move into a part of the castle in 1920. The next year the Danish state bought the castle from the Duke. In 1810, a younger scion of the family, Prince Christian August of Augustenborg|Prince Christian August, was chosen as the Crown Prince of Sweden, and adopted by king Charles XIII of Sweden. The Augustenborg dynasty on a royal throne was however not to be actualized, as Prince Christian August died just in a couple of months after his arrival in Sweden. In the early 19th century the Danish royal line started to go extinct. The Duke of Augustenborg was the next male-line heir to the royal house, though not descended in male line from Frederick III of Denmark and Norway. This made the duke a player in the convoluted Schleswig-Holstein Question, as well in the Danish succession. Frederik August of Augustenborg attempted to proclaim himself as Duke Frederick VIII of Schleswig-Holstein in 1864 upon the final extinction of the main branch, Danish kings. His daughter Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein became German Empress as consort of Wilhelm II. From 1931 the line of succession passed through the maternal line of HR&IM Empress Augusta Victoria (Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg). The House of Augustenburg List of Dukes ;Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg *Ernest Günther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1647–1689) *Frederick, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1689–1692), son *Ernest August, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1692–1731), brother *Christian August, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1731–1754), nephew *Frederick Christian I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg| (1754–1794), son *Frederik Christian II, Duke of Augustenburg (1794–1814), son *Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (1814–1869), son ;Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein *Frederick VIII of Schleswig and Holstein|Frederik VIII August (1863–1880), son :Frederick proclaimed himself Duke of [in 1863 and was recognized by Prussia as equivalent of mediatized principalities. *Ernst Günther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein|Ernest Günther (1880–1921), son * August Wilhelm, Duke of Schleswig and Holstein *Frederik IХ (1981-2009), great-grandson of Frederick VIII of Schleswig and Holstein *Alexander I (2009-present), son, great-great-grandson of Frederick VIII Like the previous Oldenburg dynasty all previous monarchs of the Glücksburg dynasty in Denmark also claimed the titles as Dukes of Schleswig and Holstein. The current Danish monarch, Queen Margrethe II of Denmark abandoned this tradition upon ascending the Danish throne in 1972. The Glücksburg dynasty considered the two territories to be separate entities and it consequently never used the form "Schleswig-Holstein" in titles. The Russian Romanov dynasty used the form "Schleswig-Holstein". References 1. Almanach de Gotha (182nd ed.). Almanach de Gotha. 1998. pp. 135, 136. ISBN 0-9532142-0-6. 2. The Royal Families in Europe by Lars Ulwencreutz, 2011, 742 pages, Lulu.com, English, ISBN-10: 1446721566, ISBN-13: 978-1446721568 3. [http://house-hohenzollern.com/index.php/house-of-augustenburg%7C The House of Augustenburg